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Products > Thunbergia alata 'Lemon Star'   Thunbergia alata 'Lemon Star' - Yellow Black-Eyed Susan Vine Note: This plant is not currently for sale. This is an archive page preserved for informational use.   [2nd Image] Habit and Cultural Information Category: Vine Family: Acanthaceae (Acanthus¹) Origin: Africa, Central (Africa) Evergreen: Yes Flower Color: Yellow Bloomtime: Year-round Height: Climbing (Vine) Width: Spreading Exposure: Sun or Shade Deer Tolerant: Yes Irrigation (H2O Info): Medium Water Needs Winter Hardiness: 25-30° F Thunbergia alata 'Lemon Star' (Yellow Black-Eyed Susan Vine) - An attractive and cheerful evergreen vine that sprawls along the ground and clambers up on anything that will support it. The twining stems will reach 6-8 feet and are covered with triangular-shaped leaves that have winged petioles and nearly year-round, but strongest from summer through fall, yellow tubular flowers that have dark purple, almost black throats. This plant is often treated as an annual in areas where it is killed by temperatures much below 28° F but in near frost-free zones it can be a perennial. This plant was severely damaged except where protected under eaves at 28° F in our January 2013 freeze. Plant in sun or part shade and water regularly. Thunbergia alata comes from South Africa, and though similar to its tropical African relative, the Orange Clock Vine (Thunbergia gregorii), this plant is easily disguisable by the dark-centered eye of the flower and the winged petioles. The name for the genus honors the Swedish naturalist Carl Peter Thunberg (1743-1828) who was a student of Linnaeus and spent several years botanizing the Cape of Good Hope. The specific epithet is from the Latin word 'alatus' meaning "winged" in reference to the flattened wing like growth on the leaf petioles. This plant was discovered in 1999 by Michael Unger at Rheinfelden, Germany. It is being marketed by BallFlora Plant and is sometimes listed as 'Sunny Lemon Star'. It was issued US Plant Patent 14,371 filed on April 1, 2002, which has since expired.  The information about Thunbergia alata 'Lemon Star' displayed on this page is based on research conducted in our nursery library and from online sources we consider reliable. We will also relate those observations made of this plant as it grows in our nursery gardens and in other gardens that we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments we receive from others and welcome hearing from anyone who has additional information, particularly when they share cultural information that would aid others in growing it.     [MORE INFO]